The Jackal
' ' The Jackal 'is a pirate ship captained by the Imperial navyman-turned pirate Kane Pyke, which he obtained with the help of a few other defecting Imperial sailors by stealing it from Anvil's harbour. Kane previously served on the ship prior to stealing it, and had the entire vessel scrubbed clean of any Imperial imagery and reoutfitted as a pirate ship. History The Jackal is a rather old ship that used to serve in the New West Navy, upon which Captain Kane Pyke sailed. It was a standard brig, then named The Crusader ''by the Imperials. After the Empire's defeat in The Great War, Kane no longer wished to serve in the New West Navy, having lost all faith in the Empire. Instead, he stole the ship in the middle of the night not long afterwards from Anvil's harbour with the assisstance of other defectors such as Brugo gro-Anvil, and the father of Brolin Lakewing. Promptly after being stolen, it was sailed straight to Stros M'Kai where the crew customized it as they pleased to give it the appearance of a pirate ship, and renamed The Jackal. The ship is relatively unknown, but particularly feared in the southern Abecean for its reign of terror there, even earning it the title of "Scourge of the Blue Divide" briefly. The ship has been damaged time and time again, causing it to be repaired on a multitude of occasions and upgraded quite often. Schematics Exterior It sat there, waiting patiently on the water for its passengers to board; The Jackal in all its glory. The ship seemed to be larger than your average brig, packing 9 cannons on either side of it, two swivel guns on each end of the ship, and a large ram at the front. Flying scarlet sails on two square rigged masts, the ship was a majestic sight to observe; carrying a Jolly Roger which flapped proudly in the wind. The polished dark chocolate finish was flawless and remained uninterrupted by any other colour, save for the growling yellow-brown head of a canine messily painted onto the side of it, streaks running down where the nape of its neck finished. Finally there was the head of a ship, sitting nobly above the horn-lke protrusion that was the rammer, ready to shred any ship in its path to ribbons. Its figurehead was the howling head of Jackal, looking just as graceful, yet fierce as the ship itself. Interior The dark wooden steps down into the hold seemed to creak with every step, leading into a dark, dimly lit hold at the foot of the stairs. A bare amount of sunlight permeated through the mesh of the hatch leading down to it, illuminating particles of dust within the godrays. Wooden struts supported the ceiling in an evenly spaced pattern, and a variety of barrels and rucksacks were littered behind the steps, as well a few faint lanterns. Some ropes and hooks were suspended in the halls as well, aimlessly rocking back and forth as the ship sailed. Portholes allowed a window into the brilliant blue ocean every so often, with a desk lined up against almost every one. Even from just looking at the ship from the outside, it was quite apparent that The Jackal was repaired and upgraded quite often, with many parts of the ship looking visibly newer than others; or the tones and styles between wood craftsmanship not quite matching one another. The inside of the ship was a little cozy, to say the least. The crew's quarters was more or less a series of long, narrow hallways lined with hammocks and a little area beside each for a crew member to put their personal belongings, or just generally make it their own, as well as a porthole.. The only crew members who got some semblance of privacy were the captain, the surgeon (when there weren't any patients, at least), and partially the navigator. Of course, the navigator's quarters still wasn't very personal considering it was open to the rest of the quarters, but just divided by a large table with a map and a few navigation utensils sprawled across it. Some of the artifacts in there seemed to be magical in nature. Just above the crew quarters was the gun deck, a floor of the ship's interior entirely dedicated to holding the majority of the ship's cannons, as there were a few on the ship's main deck as well. The gun deck's walls were lined with guns, and although it was usually quite dark in there, each cannon had a window suspended by chains, so that the window could be pulled up and down at the crew's leisure, and the neck of the cannon could be forced through it to prepare for battle. It also served as an armoury of sorts, with boarding axes, cutlasses, rope, several barrels of gunpowder, and a plethora of cannonballs, and other ammunition for the swivel guns and such. All of these supplies lied in a medium sized storage room at the back of the gun deck. The lower portions of the ship, the cargo hold that is, had reinforced walls. It seemed to be a dark metal, maybe pig iron that lined it, but it was mostly wooden at its core. It was an awkward shape, like a rounded half-cylinder that was more steep in some places than others, and had a large edge running down the middle. It was absolutely brimming with sacks, barrels, crates, and other such supplies, like a large mound of cable all curled up into a big cone, This hold was very dark, as many of the foods often lasted longer when kept in the dark, such as the potatoes which commonly rotted when kept in light. There was a barely visible lantern lying on a desk near the entrance to hold, which would be lighted whenever something needed to be retrieved. The galley was quite simple, but more spacious than one might've imagined. Although you really couldn't call the ceilings there ''high, they were most certainly higher than they were in the rest of the ship's interior. Six desks lined with benches on either side capable of fitting about three people each allowed a maximum capacity of about 36 people in there, though it was a tight squeeze. Fortunately for the Jackal, they had less people than that, and it wasn't very common that every single member would be in the galley sharing a meal anyways. The kitchen was behind a large wooden bar-like counter that seperated the rest of galley from it. It was arranged in an efficient typical style with longitudinal units and cabinets laid out in an overhead style filled with all sorts of foodstuffs. It catered to the lack of room aboard the ship, and was a good counter to the way it often rocked and turned unexpectedly, in an effort to minimize the amount of times everything would come flying out onto the floor in an exceptionally unstable maneuver. Even some of the more dangerous surfaces, like where the food was cooked, was protected the iron bars to prevent the cook from falling into it and getting a nasty burn. Finally, there was the captain's quarters, which was on level with the deck of the ship. It seemed to be surprisingly regal, but not without a tone of ruggedness to it. Like the navigation room, there was a large desk in the center with a map of the Abecean sprawled across it. Right after opening the the small, baroque mahogany door, there was a finely crafted wooden coat rack to the left, and an empty display case to the right, likely for the captain's cutlass. The back of the room had a large double bed with cotton deep-red sheets and a yellow trim, lined with grand windows on either side. These were no simple portholes, as they were allowed to look any way they wanted due to them not being underwater. As a result, the captain's cabin was often better lit than the rest of the ship. Notable Conflicts Pre-Dark Waters The Jackal, under the name The Crusader, participated in a number of battles with the Aldmeri Dominion's ships during the Great War, and was ironically used to fend off pirates prior to that. After it was stolen by Captain Kane, the ship was used in a variety of fights with both Aldmeri and Imperial trade ships which it then raided. The ship was even used to destroy a few pirate-hunting vessels who attempted to claim the bounty on the ship's crew. Dark Waters TBR Category:Dead Sin Category:Ships